“Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot”, the second batch of Borderlands DLC after “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned”, was announced just today, but it’s already turning into a rather shaky enterprise. After a few scattered, embargo-breaking reports, we got an official, but uninformative, declaration of its existence. Hoping to clear up some confusion, Gearbox warchief Randy Pitchford sent out a friendly note:
This is an ENTIRELY NEW GAME MODE. Think [Halo] ODST‘s “Firefight” of Gears of War [2]’s “Horde Mode”. Cash, prizes and competition! It’s like Smash TV in co-op FPS, but in the Borderlands.
I have to admit that, while I really like Horde-esque modes in general (especially if the Horde consists of Baron Flynt and Sledge), “Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot” didn’t really excite me the way the (excellent, by the way) “Zombie Island” DLC did. If you’re in the same boat, this might bring you around: “This DLC expands greatly on the possibilities of combat as well adding a ton of new rules such as vampire mode or low gravity mode etc. This is not just deathmatch arenas.”
Low gravity? That changes everything.
Let’s be real for a second. I really like Borderlands (for what’s it’s worth, it’s my favorite game of the year): I like Gearbox’ quirky sense of humor and Borderlands scratches a very specific itch. I thought the “Zombie Island” DLC was really well done, and I don’t have any reason to believe that the “Underdome Riot” won’t be. I’m sure the marketing train will start rolling soon, and being the impressionable goon I am, I’ll jump right on.
In addition to extra modes and potential Moxxi-on-Lillith-on-Modercai action, “Underdome Riot” also includes a new storage system so you hang on to all that sweet loot you’ve been collecting. Not that I really need it—with a rocket launcher that procs 4x incendiary and does 775 damage, everything else seems obsolete.
